The Smooth And Tumble

First there was Saina; then Sindhu sprang onto the scene in a flash. Indian gym­­nastics, too, has a new star—Aruna Budda Reddy, the first Indian to win a medal at the Gymnastics World Cup. Aruna won bronze in Melbourne in vault, favo­urite discipline of Deepa Karmakar too. A black belt in Karate, Aruna credits her late father, B. Narayana Reddy, with every­thing. Also on her mind is to make the most of her career ­bef­ore she’s 24.

No Colour On The Silt

Even the dauntingly ageless Hema Malini has to back down on her home turf. The Mathura MP was dressing up as Radha for the Holi extr­avaganza, Rangotsav, when the National Green Tribunal wagged its fingers and forced a shift of venue from the Yamuna’s banks to a veterinary university to clean up after the celebration. The Lord and his consorts played Holi without mucking up. Mere mortals, we can’t aspire to that.

Name: Jane Amber

Back in Olde Britain, there were a few women squires who used the tailcoat, top-hat and walking stick to good effect. Jane Walker, Scotch partner to Johnnie Walker, the one who keeps walking, carries on in that spirit. A fun, marketable response from the whisky makers to gender equality.

Smile Along Now

Half the country is rewatching those prodigious winks and that unmatched smile. Priya Prakash Varrier, meanwhile, is basking in it all. Here she is, at a Kerala Blasters vs Chennaiyin FC match in Kochi, with Sachin (and her co-star Roshan; doesn’t the boy pale beside her?).

Love For Sree

One striking thing about the tributes pouring in for Sridevi is how genuinely heartfelt they all are, and not the usual platitudinous declarations of greatness. Along with Kamalahaasan and Rajnikanth, the one huge star who was deeply aff­ected by the untimely death was Amitabh Bachchan, her co-star in Inquilaab,Aakhree Raasta and Khuda Gawah. As she was being flown back on Feb 28, Amitabh tweeted in ang­uish: “Get back..just get back...to love”

The Line Of Beauty

One thing you have to give K calendar. They have the pulse of the times. The days of only glamour are passe. Enter a trained Bharatanat­yam and Kuchipudi dancer, one who has performed widely in India and abroad, studied theatre at the New York Film Academy, and, if she so wills, can make a multitude stop in their tracks. Enter, in short, Priyanka Karunakaran.

This Too Happened

Usain Bolt revealed his plans to take on Robbie Williams—in a football match! Following a teasing weekend tweet (“I’ve signed for a football team!”), he confirmed that he would captain the World XI of celebrities and professional footballers against Williams’s ‘England’ for charity at Old Trafford on June 10.

Italy, all of a sudden, has overtaken Provence, Switzerland and grand European chateaus as the destination for celebrity Indian weddings. Preparations were afoot at the Villa del Balbianello on the impossibly picturesque Lake Como for the nuptials of Deepika and Ranveer, a duo who looks no less handsome than the fancy environs of their grand day on November 14 and 15. We hope Como lives up to their dreams.

Shillong-based Big-Ri (left) is a sharp card, a founder of hip-hop group Khasi Bloodz. Meba Ofilia’s style—note the robust armbands—is also steeped in hip-hop and R&B. The music they make together, like the edgily rusty Ambassador they choose as a prop, takes you unawares. The duo won the Best India Act for Done Talking at the 2018 Europe Music Awards, held in Barakaldo, Spain.

It’s curious that Sachin should be made ambassador for UNICEF’s ‘hand washing initiative’ and packed off to roofy Bhutan. But, ever the sportsman, he’s taken it in a batsman’s stride. The beneficiary is Bhutan’s national cricket team, and this lanky, teenaged batter.

Haute, they have always bel­ie­ved, is a seven-hued thing, and the cause of the LGBTQ has alw­ays been dear to the fashion fraternity. A parliament of forty designers conjured up the ‘Rain­bow’ show to celebrate the rec­ent junking of Article 377. Red mascara and blue-glittered coi­­ffure caught the eye; so did a message of love across a bare back.